NEW CONSORTIUM TO STIMULATE LARGE SCALE ROLL OUT OF LNG

A new consortium 'BioLNG EuroNet' announced a commitment to the further expansion of LNG (liquefied natural gas) as a road transport fuel across Europe with new infrastructure that should ensure the long-term success and mass scale adoption. The consortium, comprising Shell, Disa, Scania, Osomo and Iveco will each deliver separate activities. Besides 2,000 more LNG trucks on the road it wants to realize 39 LNG fuelling stations and the construction of a BioLNG production plant in the Netherlands.

The LNG Retail stations will form part of a pan-European network and be built in Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain. The stations will be located approximately every 400 km along core road network corridors from Spain to Eastern Poland.

“LNG is an increasingly affordable fuel for heavy goods vehicles which will make it an important energy source as the transport sector evolves,” said Istvάn Kapitάny, Executive Vice President, Shell Retail.

The bioLNG facility will produce 3000 MT/year of BioLNG and will use biomethane produced from waste. This will be sold to end-users via the LNG network. “This program covers filling stations, biofuel production and subsidies which are all necessary for progressive customers to invest in the trucks, despite the extra initial cost,” say Jonas Nordh, Director Sustainable Transport Solutions, Scania. “Whilst LNG which reduces CO2 emissions by about 20 percent, is more broadly available today, biogas, which reduces CO2 emissions by over 90 percent, can increasingly be blended in with the natural as production of biogas is ramped up.”

The BioLNG Euronet project partners aim to help the European Union meet its goal of a 60 percent reduction in CO2 emissions by 2030, by triggering long-term decarbonisation of heavy duty road transport across mainland Europe.

The bioLNG facility to be constructed in the Netherlands will collect municipal waste from supermarkets and restaurants and process this into biogas. The technology will use new patented membrane separation technology that will enable biologically derived LNG.

The energy density of BioLNG means that heavy duty vehicles can travel longer distances. Due to the use of industrial organic waste as a resource, the CO2 emissions will be much lower than the CO2 emissions of traditional fuels.